Israeli cabinet approves nationality bill
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JERUSALEM: Israel’s cabinet approved a contentious bill on Sunday to officially define it as the nation-state of the Jewish people, a move that looks to further inflame tensions with Arab Israelis and Palestinians and potentially shake up the ruling coalition government.
The bill, which still needs to be passed in parliament to become a law, ostensibly looks to define Israel’s existing Jewish nature into law. But its various versions have drawn accusations that it will undermine the country’s democratic character, and some rights groups have even denounced it as racist.
Know more: Israel will never limit settlement building: FM
The vote comes at a time of soaring tensions between Arabs and Jews and a wave of violent attacks, including last week’s deadly assault on a Jerusalem synagogue in which two Palestinians killed five people with guns and meat cleavers.
The Israeli government vowed to respond to the wave of violence with harsh new measures, including a proposal to strip Palestinian attackers of their residency rights. Israel has already resumed a controversial policy of demolishing Palestinian attackers’ homes.
Also read: Israel to step up demolition of Palestinian homes
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the nationality bill was needed to anchor both Israel’s Jewish and democratic nature, at a time when he said many were challenging Israel’s existence.
“There are those who would like the democratic to prevail over the Jewish and there are those who would like the Jewish to prevail over the democratic,” he said.
“In the principles of the law that I will submit today both of these values are equal and both must be considered to the same degree.”
The vote set off a stormy cabinet session in which two of his most centrist coalition partners voted against the proposed bill and voiced fierce opposition, claiming that at this sensitive juncture it would likely just escalate tensions.
Finance Minister Yair Lapid, who heads the centrist Yesh Atid party, called it “a bad law, which is badly worded”.
Published in Dawn, November 24th, 2014
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Comments (34) Closed
Nov 24, 2014 06:28am
Under Islamic and Western laws parents cannot be punished for the crimes committed by their children. Under Israeli law, parents homes are demolished for the crimes committed by children. It's a sick and a brutal state.
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Nov 24, 2014 06:45am
Israel is the ugliest form of statehood solely based on religion irrespective of cultural, language, color or ethnic background. A so called country manufactured by importing Jews from across the world while kicking out the original inhabitants of the land of Palestine.
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Nov 24, 2014 06:46am
GAHAHA Israel and democracy.
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Nov 24, 2014 07:09am
The headline is misleading. They are just adding 'jewish' to the official name of the country. It can now be describing as Jewish Democratic country instead if just a democratic country. Similar to we calling Pakistan an Islamic democracy. Nothing wrong in it.
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Nov 24, 2014 07:11am
If Pakistan and many other Muslim majority nations can have the title of "Islamic State" or "Islamic Republic", so can be with Jews of Israel also, "Jewish State" or "Jewish Republic", land for the Jews.
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Nov 24, 2014 08:01am
Before commenting about Israel,s decision about this law,we as Muslims should think about what we do to our minorities and what Arab countries do to expatriates.There is no interest loan advanced to Jews in Israel,and there is complete holiday on Saturday in its true meaning.Can we find any of the Muslim countries who do practice what they believe in?
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Nov 24, 2014 08:17am
Bad news.
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Nov 24, 2014 08:22am
Sort of like the " Islamic Republic of Pakistan" Sound familiar? and treat the rest of the minorities like garbage and vermin.
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Nov 24, 2014 08:53am
Jewish Republic of Israel? They are trying to be cool like, Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
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Nov 24, 2014 09:20am
Israel should help free Palestinians from Hamas.
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Nov 24, 2014 09:26am
What else is to be expected from a rapacious, exclusivist, and racist entity. Israel's inexorable march towards de-legitimizing itself with tyranny on the ground, war at its borders, and racism in its laws will ultimately take it down.
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Nov 24, 2014 09:28am
Don't do this. We in Pakistan made the same mistake some 60 years ago. You may not feel the side effects immediately, but the fall out is a slow process ...
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Nov 24, 2014 09:39am
The wave of authoritarianism is about to begin soon. Wait until the markets start collapsing and then see how despotic the regimes turn, all in the name of stability. Human rights and freedoms that take so hard to achieve in today's world are stripped away at the whim of a pen, backed by the threat of violence against dissenters.
@UnshacklePak
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Nov 24, 2014 09:49am
Look who is complaining ! Those who have declared themselves as Islamic state have no moral right to define democracy.
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Nov 24, 2014 09:58am
Good of Israel to drop all pretenses of being a democratic state.
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Nov 24, 2014 10:21am
Wow...Congrats to Israel....
Very Happy for you :)
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Nov 24, 2014 10:23am
Israel is like a small dot if you look at the whole of middle east and the Muslim world.other then that if Saudi allows only Muslims to be citizens then why not Israel? Palestinians have been massacred even in jordan by fellow Arabs as well.
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Nov 24, 2014 10:25am
I won,t be commenting any more as there is no taste for truth left any more
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Nov 24, 2014 11:01am
@Indie ,Pot calling the kettle black.
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Nov 24, 2014 11:16am
In the history of humanity, only two nations in the world were formed purely on the basis of religion. (Other "religious" nations exist but their statehood was a given, and not born from the need to distinguish themselves on account of their faith.) These twin nations have both effectively constructed an enemy from the womb they were born from, due to an acute need to show their legitimacy to their own people. One is Israel, you know which the other is.
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Nov 24, 2014 11:25am
@shah You should first learn the differences between the terms democracy and secularism.
Btw It is about time that the Jews have their own country. If the Jewish minorities are oppressed in other Muslim countries they would have some place to take refuge. If Muslims have their own state why cant the non-muslims ?
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Nov 24, 2014 11:32am
@Indian Christian problem is some countries they claimed secular democratic republics but they act like religious fanatic, so why not they claim themselves identified as religious ethnicity instead of acting differently. india should also claim or already claimed a hindu state. isnt it true?
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Nov 24, 2014 11:42am
@Ahmed Khan A fair judgment. A moderate approach required to solve this centuries old problem between Israel and Palestinians, instead of every action views with negative approach. The overall loss due to non solving this problem goes to common men.
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Nov 24, 2014 12:20pm
@Random Indian One big difference. Pakistan was not created by importing people from Europe or Russia or some far off land and kicking out local population. There are no settlements in Pakistan and Pakistani govt does not demolish the houses of non muslims if they commit a crime.
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Nov 24, 2014 12:37pm
@hyat Arrogant ! We are okay to have reservations to minorities and even budget allotted to them and I am also proud to have the third largest muslim population in the world . How can you declare it a hindu state ? This is not Pakistan Mister ! ( PS.: you have never seen what secular state would look like do you ? :) )
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Nov 24, 2014 12:45pm
@hyat :india should also claim or already claimed a hindu state. isnt it true?:
yes true but just one correction. take hindu as a culture not religion ;)
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Nov 24, 2014 12:46pm
@hyat Please do understand that in India (and probably rest of the world), only one religion makes problems and I hope you know that religion. Rest of the religions of India live in peace and so it cannot be declared as a Hindu state. It is still a secular democracy, perhaps the world's largest democracy.
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Nov 24, 2014 01:05pm
@Laddoo they do not demolish the homes instead demolish the family itself.thats why minority population has decreased from 25% in 1947 to less than 2% in 2014.
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Nov 24, 2014 01:33pm
India too should be declared as hindu republic of india as muslims have already taken their separate homeland from british india.
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Nov 24, 2014 02:09pm
@Laddoo Excuse me, local population of Hindus and Sikhs (and soon Christians) was very much kicked out during the formation of Pakistan. This is what happens when a homeland for a specific religious group is created. Don't try to fool yourself.
You will also notice that many Indians are very critical of Israel. We may have good Israeli friends, we may do business with them, buy arms from them, but our stand is a moral one, and yes we do sympathize with the Palestinians cause just as we understand the fear and threat of terror that our Israeli friends face.
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Nov 24, 2014 02:12pm
@abc@gmail.com There is more to India than just Hindus and Muslims. There are other minorities. There are atheists & animists, there some non-Hindu religions that are equally indigenous to the land, and there are about 150 million Muslims who will not agree to see India as a theocratic state.
This is getting childish. Pakistanis, please take care of your own house. Our so-called minorities are about 200 million in number and are very much capable of taking care of themselves without your crocodile tears.
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Nov 24, 2014 03:05pm
@Indian Christian If someone will pervade in your country and expel every single Hindu out. Than set up a new country on the basis of religion or what so ever? Than what would be your remarks? As you keep on commenting blindly and never missed a slight chance of vomiting out against the Muslims!
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Nov 24, 2014 03:13pm
" But its various versions have drawn accusations that it will undermine the country’s democratic character, and some rights groups have even denounced it as racist".
Which democratic charter? There is no democratic charter. Democracies do not occupy other people and their lands (exept US, UK, Europe's occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan), do not bomb innocent civillians (exept US, UK and Europe's campain against Libya, yemen, Somalia, Pakistan, Sudan) and do not give room for extremist to take hold (exept US, UK and Israel's Dollar and equipment support of ISIS).
Ohh my dear. I think I am going crazy.
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Nov 25, 2014 12:27pm
Its time that India also declares itself as a HINDU state.
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